


Aubrey Little dispenses more of her unending wisdom

by mylosheadphones



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-30 01:44:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20806454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylosheadphones/pseuds/mylosheadphones
Summary: The roof of the out of use general store in Kepler has an excellent view of the sunset.“Howdy, Hollis!”“Aubrey, how the hell did you get up here? I ask so I know how to tell you to go back down.”





	Aubrey Little dispenses more of her unending wisdom

**Author's Note:**

> Rated teen for language (it's not bad but I don't wanna blindside anyone)

The roof of the out of use general store in Kepler has an excellent view of the sunset.

Hollis watches the trees turn gold and pulls their jacket tighter around their shoulders. Their headphones sit beside them on the concrete, playing tinny rock music that just reaches their ears. The roof of the out of use general store is colder than most places in Kepler; where Hollis is sitting was once the roof of the cooler, and somehow when everything else got shut down, the cooler kept sending frost into the air for years after. But it’s worth it for the solitude.

_ In the months since the apocalypse was averted, an unfortunate amount of responsibility has fallen into Hollis’s hands. They’ve taken it in stride, of course, as they have every problem this run-down town has thrown at them. But it’s getting to the breaking point. The new stunt park opened well, and it’s been flooded with more visiters than anyone could’ve anticipated. But then most of the clientele had been deeply troubled by the fight, and suddenly Hollis found themself the self-imposed leader of a relief effort, hardly an adult themself trying to convince full-grown adults to donate socks to suddenly homeless teenagers and clearing entire shelves of canned food and erecting dubiously legal shelters in abandoned apartment buildings. Even for someone as capable as Hollis, its a lot. It’s a lot for an adult, hell, and Hollis is only 18. _

Aubrey Little is listening to music, too. She’s wearing obnoxiously large headphones with  one part pushed off of her ear so she can hear if a car is coming too fast or someone shouts at her. Really, it’s remarkable she can hear anything—Hollis can hear her music just barely drifting up from the sidewalk all the way to the roof. Kepler’s rocky sidewalks don’t have so dramatic a reaction to her walking, not like Sylvane (not that Hollis would know this). But as she walks, flowers push up from the concrete, grass stands up straighter and greener, and color returns to the bark of hastily planted and sickly looking trees along the sidewalk. They watch her walking on her way, and lean back on their palms to settle in. The sunset is just getting good. No time to worry about some punk-ass magician who likes to keep secrets from well-intentioned citizens. They push it out of sight and out of mind and listen to their music.

“Howdy, Hollis!” Hollis sighs heavily and drags a hand down their face.

“Aubrey, how the  _ hell _ did you get up here? I ask so I know how to tell you to go back down.”

“There’s a fire escape, dude, it’s not some big secret.” Aubrey flops down on the concrete next to them. “Shit, it’s cold up here. I thought Dani was pulling my leg.”

“Get lost, Aubrey.”

Aubrey doesn’t get lost. She turns, and though Hollis is pointedly scowling in the  direction of the sunset, they can feel her eyes burning into their head.

“God, just say it! What do you want?”

“You looked upset, dude. I know you don’t like me, and I don’t blame ya, but hell, man, you ever look up from the street and see someone sitting on a roof looking upset? That’s scary, okay? Like, you’d be worried too if you saw someone sitting on a roof looking contemplative.”

They can’t lie, that’s a fair enough point.

“So,” Aubrey barrels on, “I guess my point is, like, are you okay, or whatever?”

Well shit. 

“Yknow, Aubrey, you want the honest truth? You want this to be on your record now? Fine. No, I’m not okay. You try leading a relief effort after a war, tell me how it goes.” Aubrey is silent, and she isn’t looking at them. They stop talking.

“You’re really stupid, dude, y’know that?”

“Yeah, fuck you too, Aubrey.”

“No, listen. If I can call a goddess dense, I can—“

“Call a  _ what. _ ”

“A goddess, Hollis, keep up. If I can call a goddess dense, I think I can call some small-town gang leader a dumbass.”

“Well hell, I didn’t know I was talking to some sort of  _ prophet,  _ wooow. Fine, fuck, keep talking. Why not. Lemme hear it,  _ oh _ wise one.”

“Man, and you’re being a  _ dick _ too! You have  _ so _ many people who wanna help you, like, you’re complaining about responsibility like Keith isn’t right there, trying to help you out. Isn’t he like, your treasurer or something? I don’t like the guy but I kinda thought you folks were best friends or something. And  _ sheesh _ , dude, Jake would circumnavigate the globe if you asked, he’s  _ crazy _ about you!”

“We’re just friends—“

“—Bullshiiiiit. I  _ will _ call him right now and tell him you said that—“

“—No, wait—“

“—Yeah, thought so.” Aubrey throws back her head and laughs. “No, but really. Hell, I know you don’t like me, but I  _ care _ about this town. If it would help, I would even submit to the horrible ordeal of  _ joining _ you knuckleheads. God knows yellow will look like  _ vomit _ with my hair, but at least I’d be  _ doing _ something.” She knocks her shoulder against theirs, and they’re surprisingly comforted by it. They sit quietly, thinking on it. The sun is getting lower and casting long shadows over the roof, and Aubrey is leaning over to look at their music choices.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Hollis finally spits out. “But I’ll talk to Jake.” 

_ (Beat.) _

“Thanks, Aubrey. I still hate your guts.”

“Yeah, you too.” Hollis smiles and knocks their shoulder against hers. They sit together and watch the sun sink below the hills in silence, save for the music still blaring from Hollis’s headphones.

“I am  _ so _ telling Jake what you said, though,” Aubrey says, ducking away as Hollis moves  to take a swing at her. “Have a good one, Hollis.” She sprints to the fire escape and makes her way down to the street, and Hollis shakes their head, turning back to the sky as the stars come out. Quietly, to themself, they wonder.

“What the  _ fuck  _ just happened?”

**Author's Note:**

> This was written before the finale, and I made edits so I could post it afterward. This isn't really a love letter to TAZ amnesty, as much as I would love to have that to say of my work. But it's just a character study, like most things I write. That being said,  
I want to say how truly grateful I am for this wonderful, crazy, beautiful story. Everyone who was involved helped craft something so moving (and that did make me a puffy-eyed crying mess for a hot minute) and it's been a wonderful experience to be part of.
> 
> As always, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!


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